It seems Mumbaikars daily struggle in walking outside the eastern side of Andheri station will come to an end soon, as the KE ward officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will be revamping the adjoining areas of the station premises.
According to the Western Railway, Andheri station has a footfall of 13 lakh people every day. But there is hardly any space for the regular commuters to walk freely as the footpaths outside the station premises is filled with hawkers. The uneven footpaths also add up to the woes of regular Mumbaikars.
To tackle the ongoing menace, BMC has chalked out a two-phase revitalisation plan to beautify and revamp footpaths and adjoining parts of the station. In the first phase, the civic body will repair the footpaths, wherein in the second, it will repair the BEST bus shelters adjacent to roads. As part of the project, BMC has already revamped the Agarkar Chowk island on the Andheri station road by installing a “I Love Mumbai” tableaux.
The 800 metre long Sahar Road outside the eastern side of the station has eight bus stops alongside the footpath. The civic body will realign the footpaths to increase the road space outside the two entry and exit gates of the eastern part of the station.
Speaking to the Free Press Journal, a senior BMC engineer stated, during a routine work, officials found the footpaths were not properly aligned. Following which, the civic body has taken up the responsibility of revamping the station areas.
“We will realign the footpaths and move every illegal hawkers away to tackle encroachment. BMC will also de-clog the drainage system as we discovered the drains are badly clogged,” informed the officer.
Furthermore he assured, after the beautification works are completed no hawkers will be allowed to set up stalls within 150 metres of the station premises.
The officer stated, the planning of the project is already being approved and a proposal for fund allotment has already been sent to the BMC headquarters.
“As soon as the funds get approved the repair works will begin and the first phase will be completed within a duration of 15 days maximum,” he added.
He also stated officials of KE ward had met BEST management of Andheri regarding the revamp of the bus shelters and both the bodies are on the same page.
However the engineer also maintained, both the projects will be completed on priority basis and the immediate priority of the civic body is to revamp the footpath.
“Due to the absence of footpaths people walk on the roads which cause regular congestion. Thus repairing the footpath is on the top of our list,” asserted the senior engineer.
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